Christmas in Denmark

Denmarkofficially the Kingdom of Denmark is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. It is located southwest of Sweden, south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark has two autonomous constituent countries in the north Atlantic Ocean, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and the Danish archipelago of 407 islands are characterized by flat, arable land and sandy coasts with little elevation and a temperate climate.

The Capital and largest city of this country is Copenhagen.

Christmas Celebrations in Denmark :

Christmas in Denmark is full of tradition, food, entertainment and the weather cools down with the festive spirit heats up. It is the time of year when the Danes really focus on spending quality time with family and friends.

During Christmas in Denmark, the mischievous Danish elf Nisse plays pranks on people. Nisse often lives in old farmhouses and wears gray woolen clothes, red bonnet and stockings and white clogs. As a good elf, Nisse generally helps people on the farms and is good with children but plays jokes during the holiday season. On Christmas Eve in Denmark, many families leave a bowl of rice pudding or porridge for him so that he is friendly to them and keeps his jokes within limits. Children are allowed to help decorate the Christmas tree in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The traditional Christmas starts on December 23 with hot cinnamon-laced rice pudding (“Grod”) served with a knob of butter.

On December 24, Christmas Eve, Danes often have a Christmas dinner consisting of duck or goose, red cabbage and caramelized potatoes. Afterwards, the dessert is another rice pudding; this time it is a lighter type with whipped cream and chopped almonds, and it is served cold. This rice pudding contains one whole almond. The finder of the almond wins a prize, which is usually chocolate or marzipan. A traditional breakfast item during Christmastime are Danish cupcakes called Ableskiver. On the night of Christmas in Denmark families gather around Christmas trees, exchange presents and sing carols. December 25 is usually spent celebrating with family by having a long lunch of cold cuts and different types of fish, along with Aquavit for the adults.

Most families have a ‘ris á la mande’ (a special kind of rice pudding, made of milk, rice, vanilla, almonds and whipped cream) for dessert. All but one of the almonds are chopped into pieces. The person who finds the whole almond gets a present. Adults drink a warming mixture of red wine, spices and raisins, and children drink a sweet fruit juice, like strawberry. Everybody eats small cakes of batter which have been cooked over the fire in a special pan, and dusted with icing sugar. In Denmark Christmas Eve is a special time. It is at this time parents secretly decorate the Christmas tree with home made wood and straw baubles. The children are only able to see the tree before dinner when it is lit up and the family gathers to sing carols and hymns. In Denmark Christmas Eve is called Juleaften and is the biggest occasion of the year. Parties go on all night, with traditional prune-stuffed roast goose, red cabbage, fried pastries, and cinnamon-laced rice pudding called Grod. The Christmas elves called Julenisse are appeased with rice pudding, and dishes of seeds are placed outdoors for wild birds.

In Danish Happy/Merry Christmas is ‘Glædelig Jul’.

We wish all readers Merry Christmas 2018 & Prosperous New Year 2019 !!!